Subaru Brat

[weezil]

thats really special man.. Im happy you have your buddies toy

[Vinny]

There is actually a pressure gauge on the fuel line. It is at about 30 I can hear the fuel pump click on for a second when I first turn the car on.

I cracked the line at the number 1 cylinder and there is definitely pressure there too.

I cant really figure how to check the timing because the manifold and shit sit on top of where I think you need to check it.

I did finally start it with starting fluid directly into the intake after I took off the intercooler. it idled fine and everything seemed good, timing and what not sounded good. I need to figure out this fuel system because I am 90% sure that is what is causing the problem. (either bad settings in the computer or gummed injectors(though all four injectors being bad at once is not likely))

Thank you all for your suggestions and kind words.

[Vinny]

So I have been doing a bunch of research and checking a bunch of random things and I think that I have this almost figured.

I have no fuel pressure anymore, I also found out that the megasquirt has a built in "safety" mech that only activates the fuel pump for 2 squirts and then shuts it off if the vehicle is not running within 2 seconds. If this was a bike I would just put a toggle switch to the fuel pump so I could control it but Its not so I am thinking I may need a new fuel pump with a higher Pressure in order to keep up with the demands. The lack of idle may be caused by low fuel pressure and this pump is the original 1979 brat pump. I am thinking about the Airtex E2000. I read on one of the 4x4 forums that they build good pressure and are available anywhere.

The other thing that I think may be giving me trouble is the Fuel Pressure Regulator. I know that it has its vacuum hose unplugged but I could not figure out where it needed to be plugged into until this morning.

I am going to try to replace both (1 at a time) and see what fixes the problem.

I also would like to clean the injectors. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this without ruining them? also would there be anything wrong with filling the fuel rail with injector cleaner and then turning the motor over? This should cause the injectors to open and spray the cleaner through them but will it do any harm to the motor or will it be affective at all?

[Punkskalar]

Be careful with that E2000 pump, they tend to cavitate badly if you don't have it mounted just right. It will require a perfect amount of "gravity feed" from the tank to operate properly. They are also higher pressure than you might need, so double check the system requirements for pressure before hand. Some FI systems run on low pressure, some on high...

There is honestly no great way to clean injectors at home. You can check them for spray pattern though...

[Vinny]

Who wants to identify this Fuel Injector

Hey yall,

So I have been working on Garner's brat and I cant seem to make it fire. I think I have traced the problem to the fuel injectors. I pulled them today and 2 of them are cracked pretty bad. I plan on testing them to see what the spray is like but I need to know the impedence. so that I dont fry it while I test it.

So the numbers on it as best I can tell are 0979 and 4Y09D but they are very small and I cant read them well.

I looked the part for an 86 gl up but it doesnt look like this at all so I dont trust it. Here is a pic.

[Vinny]

Ok so they are nissan 28zx injectors. There was another number that I couldnt read until I looked a bit closer. They are low impedance injectors and I have tested them all. They all squirt but the computer doesnt seem to be telling them to open while cranking which may cause a lack of running.

WTF I just dont even understand. I posted this up on the Mega squirt forum too but I figured I would keep yall informed incase you cared.

[Ghosttown]

Bad ass! Can't wait to see it running. Sorry I am of no help. Other than owning an 88' GL for a couple years, replacing the CV axle and alternator was the most I ever got into the Subies.

[Vinny]

I have not been keeping up with this thread. My bad. I have it running, then I changed the oil and I was not getting any oil pressure. After debating and debating and trying to find a pump locally and checking random stuff I finally decided to just pull the pump and check it.

I pulled it it was all within spec so I put it back together with some petroleum jelly packed into, I pumped it with a drill until it spit oil out like it was going to go to the filter, then I installed the filter, pumped it some more until it hit the gauge, I installed the gauge, and pumped it some more until I could hear it trickle down from the top end. Music to my ears. I started the car real quick and I was pushing 60 lbs at idle and 80 when I rev it up.

Time to go back to tuning. I will try to keep this thing a bit more uptodate especially after I start putting it back together and getting it ready for paint

[specialseventynine]

That's good news, can't wait to see that thing finished. I've always had a soft spot for Brats.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I'm sure he'd be proud/happy to see what your doing with his old project.

[DimeStreetSaint]

Awesome man! glad to hear you got it running. I've been wondering if you made any progress or not.

[Vinny]

I took it for another spin yesterday and today. Both times it ran pretty good. The timing is still not right but unfortunately it is a matter of resetting like 30 lines in a spreadsheet to adjust the timing on this bad boy so I have not changed it just yet. It still runs pretty good just a little laggy until the boost kicks in and my rpms get up to about 3,000.

However both times that I took it for a spin I ended up "running out of gas" I guess its what hugh was talking about with the aftermarket fuel pump where it cavitates? (Im still running the stock pump btw) The first time I thought maybe I had actually ran out of gas cus I was low but not that low the second time I know I had gas in it but I was not getting any to the pump or to the filter. So my plan, and it may be a stupid one, is to put a generic 4-7 lbs pump in the line right in front of the fuel tank (where the stock pump was in stock configuration) which should be just enough to keep the line full when the larger pump is not pulling. My only concern is that this smaller pump will create a constricted feed and wont allow enough flow for the large pump to maintain pressure. (this is a high pressure system so it needs up to 45 psi)

Anybody done anything like this? I already bought the pump but the guy at autozone said I could return it as defective if it didnt work the way I wanted it to so I wont be out anything but some time and some fuel line.

[bearpaws1973]

I have built a pair of modern Subies. I don't know how the cross over works but a mordern sti fuel pump or 06 on wrx fuel pump will supply you with plenty of gas from the fuel pump. A subaru fuel pump runs at about 43.5 psi. I saw in a previous post the you were around 30 a little low. Teh regulator should be tied into the manifold, it will raise fuel pressure when the system gets positive manifold pressure.
I don't have any tuning experience with mega squirt but if I remember correct there is a forum that discusses all the tuning techniques. Check honda guys too they love to use megasquirt.
Good luck with it it really is a cool platform.

[Punkskalar]

Winter is coming, get this thing alive!

[Guest]

Sorry for your loss...

That's a cool little car, please keep us posted with what you do with it.